Community forum aims to put words into action

Coffs Harbour community and business representatives are invited to attend the second Coffs Community Forum, to be held on Wednesday (September 21).

The forums, a joint initiative of Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour City Council and the Coffs Coast Advocate, are designed to stimulate public discussion and ultimately provide a road map for the future of the city.

The second forum will focus on developing working groups covering key themes in alignment with Coffs Harbour 2030: growing business and creating jobs, healthy communities, environment, education participation, cultural creativity and discovery, and infrastructure.

Professor David Lynch, head of Southern Cross University’s Coffs Harbour campus, said the first forum, which attracted up to 180 people, had identified a range of key themes.

“There was a lot of really interesting discussion, and a range of key themes which emerged from the first forum. What we need now is to develop a plan for action,” he said.

A number of community and business representatives will be invited to lead discussions across the working groups, with the aim of developing some core goals and a framework to achieve them.

Professor Lynch said he would be leading a group focused on education participation.

“It was really clear from our first forum that members of our community want to see some action. We don’t want to just keep talking about the issues, we need to develop a clear plan for how to achieve our goals,” he said.

“We also need to continue to engage with a range of community representatives to ensure we can keep the momentum going.”

The Coffs Community Forum will be held in the D block lecture theatre, Southern Cross University Coffs Harbour campus, on Wednesday, September 21, at 5.30pm for a 6pm start.

Interested participants are asked to register their attendance, nominating an area of interest, with Deborah Hoiles on 6659 3341 or email deborah.hoiles@scu.edu.au.